Sleeping Genroku bijin
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art of Japan
$2,000–$15,000. Beauty prints by this artist are particularly sought after. Good bijin-ga: $4,000–$8,000. Key value factors: Kitano's sensuous Osaka-style bijin-ga have strong collector demand. His paintings command significantly higher prices.
A sleeping beauty rendered in the Genroku-period style, this oban-format woodblock print combines two of Tsunetomi's recurring interests: the bijin-ga tradition and the nostalgic evocation of Edo-period aesthetics. The sleeping figure is among the most vulnerable and intimate subjects in Japanese art, a woman caught in a state of complete unconsciousness, her social persona dissolved into the unguarded reality of sleep. Tsunetomi renders this private moment with the Genroku costume markers, the wide obi, bold fabric patterns, and elaborate hair ornaments, that place the figure in the late seventeenth century. The contrast between the formality of the costume and the informality of sleep creates a tension that drives the composition. The woman's body relaxes against the rigid architecture of her clothing, and the careful arrangement of her limbs and hair suggest an aesthetic ordering of what in life would be an entirely unposed moment.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Sleeping Genroku bijin was created by Kitano Tsunetomi (北野恒富).
Sleeping Genroku bijin was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Sleeping Genroku bijin depicts bijin-ga.
